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Poppies
In the Land of Oz...Beware of the Deadly Poppy Field! The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) The Deadly Poppy Field The field of the Deadly Poppies are a fictional place that can only be found in the magical Land of Oz. The flowers are an element invented by L. Frank Baum, author and creator of the Oz legacy. The poppies are introduced in Baum's first Oz book titled 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz', published in 1900. The Poppies of Oz are used as an obstacle of which involves the main characters in the plot of the story. These poppies are describe by Baum as being more beautiful than any other poppy ever seen. They are lively and luscious and delicately scented , yet these scarlet plants are mysteriously cursed. They are attractive to the eye, soothing to the smell, and dangerously fatal when amoung too many. There is a vast meadow full of hundreds of thousands and it stretches out many miles in every direction at the borders of the Munchkin Country, not too far away from the Emerald City. On the long Journey of Dorothy Gale, who is the story's child protagonist and her comrades were on, they never were warned beforehand about the curse held within them. Thus walking right into the field until they were knee deep in the flowery red carpet. And thinking this only as a short cut, the group unknowingly walked right into a death trap. The specific version of poppies in Oz are a rare magical species type of flower blossoms which all happen to hold a Papaver somniferum within it's core and scented petals which produces edible seeds. This is also the source of the crude drug opium which contains powerful medicinal alkaloids such as heroine and morphine. Also, poppies are herbaceous annual, biennial or short-lived perennial plants. Some species are monocarpic, dying after flowering, but in Oz these poppies can never die or ever wilt. When surrounded by the odor of the poppies, they are so very powerful that anyone who breathes it in for too long, falls into a deep eternal slumber, from which they cannot wake and one could sleep on forever and ever amongst the poppies until eventual death. There is no way to break this dark spell and stop the deadly flowers unless one were to be carried and taken out of the field and far away enough to breathe in fresh air and come out of the deadly trance. The most popular version of the Poppies are most memorable from the classic Judy Garland film of 1939 and were finally brought back to life in the plot of Disney's 2013-Prequel movie 'Oz the Great and Powerful'. Baum's Description Not much information is given as to where these flowers originated from and why they became enchanted with the curse of eternal sleep. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) On Dorothy Gale's first visit to Oz, the girl and her dog Toto succumbed to the slumbering scent of these pretty plants as they traveled with their new found friends to see the Wizard. After Dorothy and Toto fell victim, even the Cowardly Lion gave into the hypnosis and temptation of them and fell fast asleep shortly after Dorothy and Toto did. He tried to run out of the field and away to safety when he realized what the flowers were capable of but was unsuccessful. The Scarecrow and Tin Man were immune because they weren't made of flesh, therefore they were not at all effected. Luckily because of this, they both were able to help the other three sleeping friends and they were rescued in time before they all died. Dorothy, Toto and the Cowardly Lion were saved when the Tin Woodman killed an evil wild cat who was chasing after a running field mouse to kill it. The Tin Woodman saw this and used his handy axe to chop off the head of the wild cat clean off to save the mouse who was infact none other than the Queen of the Field Mice herself. Because he saved her life the Mouse Queen was willing to do the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow a favor, so her along with her loyal mice subjects who inhabited the field were all obliged to help get the three slumbering victims out of the Poppy field. 'The Wizard of Oz' 1939 As the travelers make their way out of the dark forest, Dorothy and her friends see the Emerald city far off in the distance. They decide to run through a beautiful poppy field to get to the city faster, yet only to fall pray to The Wicked Witch's trap. The Wicked Witch of the West (1939) In the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, the plot of the Deadly Poppy Field is slightly changed. The Wicked Witch of the West enchants some normal poppies in a field in order to slow down the unlikely group of travelers and put them to sleep to stop them dead in their tracks, all so she could retrieve her late sister's Ruby Slippers. It was a success and Dorothy helplessly collapsed right in the middle of the field and laid next to Toto who was already fast asleep, as was the Cowardly Lion. When Scarecrow and Tin man frantically shouted for help, Glinda the Good Witch heard their plea and gladly helped them by using her magic wand to make it magically snow out of the clear blue sky, causing the effects of the enchanted poppies to be neutralized. Much to the Wicked Witch's dismay, this allowed Dorothy to awaken and rejoin her friends to continue the journey to see the Wizard unharmed. Poison Poppy Prostitutes 'The Wiz' 1978 In the modern and urban African-American version of Baum's story 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' The Wiz, in both the original Broadway show and 1978 Diana Ross film the poppies were controversially portrayed by a group of foxy ethnic woman with sassy attitudes, dressed in flashy red revealing outfits and walked the city streets of Oz. This suggested they were all hookers in Oz that put people in a erotic trance. They seduced anyone who came near them by blowing magic opium glitter into the faces of their potential victim which would put them in a drugged induced state, most likely all their clients. This also happened as the Cowardily Lion and Dorothy got too close to the poppy girls as it is revealed they worked for Evillene, the Wicked Witch who was like a Pimp to them. The Muppets Wizard of Oz 2005 Welcome to Poppyfields... In this 2005 made for TV Muppets version done by Disney, starring pop singer Ashanti as Dorothy, Queen Latifa as Aunt Em and Quentin Tarantino. The Deadly Poppy Field is reinvented into a hip night club that plays jazz music. Oz the Great and Powerful 2013 In Disney's movie 'Oz the Great and Powerful', Glinda the Good cast a spell upon the Poppy Field to disguise the scarecrow army in a clever illusion as they became covered in magic fog from her wand. This made it difficult for anyone to see them and was used as a trick to mislead and outsmart the Wicked Witches as they sent their Winged Baboons to attack. Since the poppies are poison, the Baboons fell alseep in the field before the could retreat. This trick was used to weaken the Wicked Witches army. Once Upon A Time 2014 In ABC's hit TV show, Once Upon a Time, Emma Swan, the show's protagonist, is given poppy powder from another kingdom- presumably the Land of Oz - which can put even a giant to sleep instantly. Poppy Field Poppy Field